Public cost of Xanadu cleanup could exceed $6.1M, report says

The public cost of cleaning the construction mess and dealing with contaminated soils at Xanadu Meadowlands could exceed $6.1 million, according to a report in the Record.

The report said workers at the site have uncovered dozens of oozing drums, leaking fuel tanks, sunken pools of chemical-laced liquid and other hidden hazards since the project began almost four years ago. The discoveries at Xanadu have prompted the removal of 7,260 tons of tainted soil and more than 103,000 gallons of contaminated groundwater, with much of the material is being taken to hazardous-waste sites in Michigan and western Pennsylvania.

Mitsu Yasukawa/The Star LedgerFile aerial photo of Meadowlands Xanadu in East Rutherford from March 2008.